Trump’s America-First policy drives US dollar and bond yields higher, pushing gold prices down 3%, silver prices down 5% 

After a tight race, former President Donald Trump will become the 47th President of the U.S., and his America-first philosophy is driving the U.S. dollar and bond yields higher, which is taking a significant toll on gold and silver. Spot gold prices are currently down 3% as the North American trading session kicks off, last trading at $2,657.60 an ounce. At the same time, silver is down 5% on the day, last trading at $30.95 an ounce. Ole Hansen, Head of Commodity Strategy at Saxo Bank, said that while the selloff in gold and silver is dramatic, it’s not surprising given how far the precious metals have run in recent weeks. “Today’s strong dollar rally is the main reason why gold is struggling, to the extent that it broke support levels, which then triggered some additional long liquidation,” he said. At the same time, Hansen noted that falling copper prices are also taking their toll on silver. However, Hansen also added that gold and silver have been long overdue for a correction, and this selloff could be seen as a new buying opportunity. He pointed out that despite the rally in the U.S. dollar, the outlook for the U.S. economy and government spending hasn’t changed. “The U.S. debt situation will likely go from bad to worse unless the other big winner, Elon Musk, gets his D.O.G.E. department up and running and finds savings. In addition, tariffs will raise inflation concerns, which should more than offset a potential slowdown in U.S. rate cuts. The biggest short-term challenge remains the outlook for diverging central banks supporting the dollar, thereby raising a few hurdles,” he said. Matthew Jones, a precious metals analyst at Solomon Global, also sees a bright future for gold despite the short-term headwinds. “The promise of fiscal stimulus has pushed bond yields higher as markets price in potential inflation and growth under the Trump administration. This rally in the dollar and yields has put pressure on gold, which traditionally falls as real interest rates rise, reflecting reduced demand for safe-haven assets in the short term,” he said. “However, from a longer-term, macro perspective, the future is 'as good as gold.'” Jones added that Trump’s Americafirst policy, which would include higher across-theboard tariffs, could prove to be positive for precious metals. 

Rupee hits record low as Trump claims victory, regional currencies drop 

The Indian rupee fell to a record low on Wednesday, hurt by a sharp rise in the dollar and U.S. bond yields as Republican Donald Trump claimed victory in the U.S. presidential election. The rupee closed at 84.28, down 0.2% from its previous close, in what was its worst single-day fall in over four months. However, intervention by the Reserve Bank of India helped the currency limit losses compared to its regional peers, which fell as much as 1.8%. The risk now is that the rupee weakens further with its direction being influenced by how much strength the dollar exhibits and how sharply the Chinese yuan depreciates, said Dhiraj Nim, a forex strategist and economist at ANZ. The dollar index climbed over 1.5% to 104.9, while the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield touched a more than four-month peak before retreating to 4.43%. The offshore Chinese yuan was down 1.1% at 7.18 per dollar. While the RBI "will smoothen out sudden moves" if the yuan reacts sharply, the central bank would have to let the rupee weaken, Nim said. The central bank "heavily sold dollars" on Wednesday via state-run banks to cap the rupee's decline, a senior trader at a state-run bank said. Trump has vowed to impose a 10% tariff on imports from all countries and 60% duties on Chinese imports, with analysts reckoning that his immigration, taxation, and tariff policies may exert upward pressure on U.S. inflation. While markets were still confident the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by 25 basis points on Thursday, odds of a similar-sized rate cut in December slipped to about 68% from nearly 80% a day ago, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

UK Pension Fund Makes Historic Bitcoin Investment 

A UK pension fund has become the first in the country to add Bitcoin (BTC) to its portfolio. In a press release on Monday, the pension advice firm Cartwright said it had recommended a 3% Bitcoin allocation to an unidentified client, citing the digital currency's long-term performance. Since 2013, Bitcoin has returned nearly 100,000%. Sam Roberts, director of investment consulting at Cartwright, emphasized the strategic relevance of the move, saying, "We are proud to have led this groundbreaking move." He expects it will hopefully influence other UK institutional investors to follow suit. He cited that most of their global competitors are already positioned to take advantage of the unique properties of Bitcoin. This move reflects the wider trend of institutional Bitcoin adoption, especially in the wake of the approval given for spot Bitcoin ETFs in January this year. Financial giants BlackRock and Fidelity’s existing ETFs have managed to amass over one million Bitcoins worth about 67 billion dollars at its current market price. Cartwright draws an interesting parallel between current Bitcoin adoption and how the pension industry gradually embraced equities in the 1970s. The firm states that as initial adoption may be slow, failing to include Bitcoin within investment portfolios could eventually be considered a strategic failure.

Bitcoin price rockets above $75k on Trump win, precious metals sell off 

Financial markets largely responded positively to Donald Trump winning a second term in office as Bitcoin (BTC) surged to a new all-time high while stocks opened strong. Precious metals, on the other hand, experienced a sharp sell-off, with both gold and silver seeing declines greater than 3% amid a surge in the U.S. dollar. “Shortly after the North American markets closed, before any results were known, the market jumped back into the ‘Trump trade,’ which it had pared on Tuesday,” noted Marc Chandler, Chief Market Strategist at Bannockburn Global Forex. “The dollar and US interest rates soared. The euro is the hardest hit among the G10 currencies today, off about 1.6%, and the Canadian dollar is the best performer with about a 0.5% loss. Emerging market currencies have also been sold.” As it became clear on Tuesday evening that a Trump victory was likely, cryptocurrency prices started to rally, with Bitcoin hitting a high of $75,426 in the early hours of Wednesday. 

TN CM announces gold jewellery industrial park for Coimbatore 

Coimbatore, a hub of the global gold jewellery industry, will soon have a gold jewellery industrial park in Kurichi SIDCO with an investment of Rs 126 crore, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin said on Wednesday. This project containing all facilities including a NABL-accredited laboratory, aims to provide direct employment to 2,000 people and indirect jobs to 1,500, he said, during his secondday visit to the city. "This announcement follows a request during my interaction with the representatives of Coimbatore Gold Jewellery Manufacturers, and the Coimbatore Goldsmiths' Association on November 5," the chief minister said at a government function here.